The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition
by Caroline Alexander
The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander holds a highly rated rating of 4.31 out of 5, based on 14.5K reader ratings. First published in 1998. The book spans 224 pages.
About The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition
In August 1914, days before the outbreak of the First World War, the renowned explorer Ernest Shackleton and a crew of twenty-seven set sail for the South Atlantic in pursuit of the last unclaimed prize in the history of exploration: the first crossing on foot of the Antarctic continent. Weaving a treacherous path through the freezing Weddell Sea, they had come within eighty-five miles of their destination when their ship, Endurance, was trapped fast in the ice pack. Soon the ship was crushed like matchwood, leaving the crew stranded on the floes. Their ordeal would last for twenty months, and they would make two near-fatal attempts to escape by open boat before their final rescue.Drawing upon previously unavailable sources, Caroline Alexander gives us a riveting account of Shackleton's expedition--one of history's greatest epics of survival. And she presents the astonishing work of Frank Hurley, the Australian photographer whose visual record of the adventure has never before been published comprehensively. Together, text and image re-create the terrible beauty of Antarctica, the awful destruction of the ship, and the crew's heroic daily struggle to stay alive, a miracle achieved largely through Shackleton's inspiring leadership. The survival of Hurley's remarkable images is scarcely less miraculous: The original glass plate negatives, from which most of the book's illustrations are superbly reproduced, were stored in hermetically sealed cannisters that survived months on the ice floes, a week in an open boat on the polar seas, and several more months buried in the snows of a rocky outcrop called Elephant Island. Finally Hurley was forced to abandon his professional equipment; he captured some of the most unforgettable images of the struggle with a pocket camera and three rolls of Kodak film.Published in conjunction with the American Museum of Natural History's landmark exhibition on Shackleton's journey, The Endurance thrillingly recounts one of the last great adventures in the Heroic Age of exploration--perhaps the greatest of them all.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Author | Caroline Alexander |
| Published | 1998 |
| Pages | 224 |
| Genres | History, Non-Fiction, Biography & Memoir, Travel, Science |
| Average Rating | 4.31 / 5.00 |
| Total Ratings | 14,529 |
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Frequently Asked Questions
What genre is The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition?
The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition is categorized as History, Non-Fiction, Biography & Memoir, Travel. Its primary genre classification is Biography & Memoir.
Is The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition worth reading?
Based on 14.5K reader ratings, The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition has an average score of 4.31 out of 5.00, which is considered "Highly Rated."
How many pages is The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition?
The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition has 224 pages.
Who wrote The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition?
The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition was written by Caroline Alexander. It was first published in 1998.
What is the ISBN for The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition?
The ISBN-13 for The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition is 9780375404030.0.
Data sourced from community book ratings and reviews. Last updated: April 15, 2026
